Making Up For It
by Miniquie
Summary: Stoick: He was going to make it right. Fifteen years of neglect. He was going to make up for it.


Stoick knew it was his fault. He knew that it was because of him that his only son and last family member was laying in the arms of a dragon and almost dead. Hiccup had tried to tell him, tried to explain, but he had not listened. He had disowned and banished his only son because he believed that he knew best. Hiccup stirred in his sleep, interrupting Stoick's thoughts.

"T-Toothless," He murmured softly. Stoick almost wept. Even in unconsciousness, the one thing on his son's mind was the dragon. Who, at the moment Hiccup had begun stirring, had started nuzzling him and purring in an attempt to comfort the small Viking.

Stoick sighed. He deserved this. He supposed. This treatment from both dragon and son. He had never before been truly there for him, always having some reason to ignore or be away from his son. After his wife had died, he had all the more reason to be away from him. He had loved his wife, but after her death, being around a child that was so like her in so many ways was torture and Stoick couldn't bear it.

He tried to go to Hiccup to check on his leg and vast array of other injuries but the dragon snarled as he began to move. Gobber looked over at him.

"Best not to try, Stoick," He said quietly. "That dragon isn't going to let you anywhere near Hiccup. Not now that he knows he'll live."

"He let you and the Astrid girl near. Why not me? I'm his father, and he let me near before." Gobber sighed.

"I am under the impression that Astrid and the dragon have met," He said. "Myself," He mused for a moment. "I'm guessing that Hiccup's never given it any reason to have ill will towards me," They both looked over as the dragon snorted and nodded. Gobber nodded and leaned back against the side of the patched boat.

Stoick sighed and turned back to face the dragon and his son. "I wish that I could take it all back," He said, mostly to himself. "That I could be a better father; change how I acted, how you were treated... Everything."

"I don't think he blames you," Stoick jerked as Astrid spoke from his side. He hadn't heard her approach but, from her comment, he assumed that she'd heard what he said. "Hiccup, not Toothless," She clarified. "Toothless definitely blames you. I think he blames all of us for how we treated him," Stoick raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the slight, blonde girl. "We treated him like he was dirt under our feet. Like a fly in the mead or a-a-" She stopped and lowered her head taking a deep breath before she continued. "We don't deserve a hero like him," She said softly. "And Toothless knows that. Toothless wants to keep him safe because he's afraid that Hiccup won't wake up if he's not there to make it all okay."

Stoick nodded. "I think you're right. I disowned my own son because of that dragon, but he probably made Hiccup feel more loved and at home than anyone has since-" He cut himself off but Astrid knew what he meant.

"We all acted the same," She said. Gobber scoffed. All three of them knew that Gobber had been the nicest Viking towards Hiccup as he grew up an outcast. "What matters now," Astrid continued. "Is how we change it. Nobody should be allowed to treat Hiccup like that ever again. He doesn't deserve it." Stoic nodded in affirmation.

"No one ever will," He replied. "Not after today. Not now that he's brought down the reason we Vikings were forced to defend our homes from the dragons," It would take many years before he would ever trust a dragon even half of what his son did and even then he would probably never be fully comfortable with them.

"So what now?" She asked. Stoick sighed again. He honestly had no idea. His world had been completely changed in the space of barely a few days. First; his son could finally fight dragons and was chosen to battle the Nightmare. Then; Hiccup was discovered as fraud and traitor who chose a dragon-a Night Fury no less-over his own people. Finally; he had led his people into the unknown to destroy the dragons nest, only to find a dragon-if it could even be called that-beyond any of their wildest nightmares and watch his son defeat it with the dragon he had forsaken his people for. Now he hoped to all the gods he could think of that his son would be okay, that he would survive the loss of his leg and wake up so that Stoick could finally make things right.

"I don't know," He replied finally. Astrid nodded, accepting.

"What of the dragons?" She was more specific this time and Stoick could give her an answer.

"Any that wish, may stay," He said. "As long as they don't attack the village or steal food," He added after a moment. Astrid smiled lightly and made a sound of agreement.

"I'm sure they won't have a problem with that," She said. "I'll talk to the others and take them and their dragons back to the island to help the rest of the village come to terms with the dragons there... And to make sure that no fights break out," She added.

"The other villagers will not take well to the idea of dragons as allies, or pets even-"

"They're not pets," She interrupted. "If there was one thing I learned when I met Toothless, it was that he's not an animal. He's Hiccup's best friend and companion... Not a pet," Stoick sighed but accepted her words. They stood in silence for a few moments. Watching Toothless as he continued to croon and purr at the unconscious boy in his arms. His leg had been cut and cauterized with a heated blade to prevent the hideous wounds-breaks cuts and torn flesh-that had been inflicted upon it from infecting and probably killing him. Stoick had recognized some cuts as the same shape as the teeth in the Night Fury's mouth but he knew that-more than anything-the dragon had caught Hiccup in the only way he knew how, that he had meant him no harm and Stoick could not begrudge the dragon the wound. Not when he himself had done so much to hurt his son over his life and that, despite the dragon's total forgiveness-or lack of knowledge, but Stoick severely doubted that-Hiccup would see it as payment for taking the Night Fury's own left tail-fin and thus, his ability to fly independently. Stoick may have been a fool of a Viking and a horrible father, but even he could tell that the contraption on the tail of the dragon was used to help him fly.

"How long did you know about this?" Stoick asked eventually, breaking the silence. Astrid sighed.

"I've only known since the day Hiccup was chosen to kill the Nightmare," She replied. "I tried to run back to the village but Hiccup stopped me..." She paused. "I'm glad he did." She said with a finality in her voice that made Stoick look down at her. He saw the conflicting emotions that crossed her face at lighting-fast speeds. Regret, happiness, relief, fear, conviction and something else that Stoick couldn't quite put his finger on.

"You knew about that?" He asked gesturing in the direction of which they had came. Astrid nodded.

"I wanted to tell you," Her words were almost defensive but her tone wasn't. "Hiccup persuaded me not to. He was adamant of you not finding Toothless, I've never seen him so sure of anything. I couldn't believe it, he was so sure of his decision that I couldn't go against him," She trailed off. "I didn't think this would happen,"

"Neither did I," Stoick replied. "I should have listened to him," He said softly. "I should have listened to him when he told me he didn't want to join dragon training. When he told me that I couldn't win this fight," He took a deep breath. "It's all my fault."

"Hiccup will find some way to make it his fault," She said quietly, almost despairingly. "Don't beat yourself up about it Chief, you could hardly have known what was going to happen-"

"But Hiccup-"

"No." Astrid interrupted. "Blaming yourself isn't going to make anything better, and it's only going to make Hiccup feel worse," She frowned slightly. "He doesn't need anything else to worry about. He going to have a hard enough time adjusting as it is," She glanced at what remained of his left leg. They matched, Stoick realized suddenly. Both Hiccup and the dragon were missing a crucial part of their left side; Hiccup his leg and the dragon his tail-fin. Both would now rely on prosthetics to enable their main form of transport.

"Very well," Stoick said, finally. "Go and tell the others what to do and take your dragons and help those that are left on the island," Astrid nodded and walked over to where the Nadder was resting and mounted smoothly, checking the rope tied around it's midsection she somehow signaled for the dragon to take off. Stoick watched as she flew into the thinning fog, calling for the other dragon riders.

* * *

"Well, Stoick," Gobber interrupted the silence that had settled on the boat, broken only by the shuffling of feet, Hiccups incoherent mumblings and the dragon's comforting sounds. "I think I may have figured out a design for his new foot. One that'll work with a new stirrup on that dragon's saddle," He gestured vaguely towards Toothless and Hiccup.

"Show me," Stoick ordered. Gobber handed the sheet of parchment over. Stoick looked over the sheet at the design for a prosthesis for Hiccup as well as several designs for a new saddle and stirrup system for the dragon.

"He'll be able to tinker with it, as I'm sure he'll want to," Gobber said, still sitting against the hull of the boat. Stoick just stared at the designs, the full realization of the fact that his son would never walk properly again. He had listened to Gobber's stories of the phantom pains for what no longer was his leg and the real ones that ravaged what was still left of his leg. Stoick had been there when Gobber lost his leg and he had witnessed first hand what the loss of a limb could do to a person; yet even after everything he had done, Stoick still worried that Hiccup would not be able to bear it as Gobber had. He knew the pains were great and Hiccup was small and physically weaker than Gobber; would he be able to keep fighting and not give in? Stoick couldn't answer his own question.

"He'll be fine," Gobber said; reading his friend's emotions from face. "The boy's got a heart the size of a dragon and brain power greater than most. He'll get through the pains fine and come out the other side, better for it," He continued, determined to quench Stoick's fears. "Look, Stoick," He said softly. "The only thing that got me through the pains was the thought that after a while, it stops; it had nothing to do with how strong physically I was, it mattered how mentally I was strong," He leaned forward, still looking at Stoick. "And your son is the strongest person I have _ever_ met when it comes to that." His words left no room for argument and Stoick had no choice but to accept what he was being told.

"Nnnnngh," Both men looked over towards Hiccup as he groaned again. They watched as his eyes flickered open and struggled to regain focus.

"Hiccup!" Stoick cried and stepped forward. Toothless snarled at him and turned his head back to Hiccup. He nudged him as Stoick watched, despairing that he could not be with his son to talk to him and apologise.

* * *

"Hey Toothless," Hiccup whispered softly. Not managing to make his voice rise above that. Toothless purred and nudged him softly with his nose. Hiccup managed a weak smile and tried to lift his arm up to pet the dragon. He only managed to lift it a little way before it dropped back to it's place on his stomach. "What's up, Bud?" He asked in the same soft whisper. Toothless huffed and clutched the small boy tighter to his chest.

"You wouldn't believe how sore my leg is," He said. Toothless whined in a way that told Hiccup; _"Yes I would, no tail-fin, remember?"_. Hiccup grimaced. "Right, sorry," Toothless shook his head in what was interpreted-correctly-as exasperation.

Stoick watched on as his son, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the world, held an oddly structured conversation with the protective Night Fury.

"I've forgotten when the last time I fed you was," Hiccup continued. "Are you hungry?" Toothless hummed and shook his head.

"Are you sure?" He asked again. Toothless huffed and nodded his head his body language clearly saying to him; _"I am not hungry because I am too worried about you, now stop asking that." _Hiccup laughed nervously.

"Fine," He accepted with a quiet huff. "But I don't think I'm in any shape to buy fish for you at the moment, I'm aching all over, so don't complain if you go hungry for a while." Toothless just looked at him.

"_Are you serious?" _His expression said. _"I'm not expecting anything from you right now... Do you even realize what has happened?"_

"Mmm," Hiccup murmured softly. Toothless crooned as the boy slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

"They understand each other better than I thought," Gobber said. Stoick nodded and grunted in agreement.

"Chief Stoick!" Stoick turned around at Spitelout's call from the tiller.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Berk is in sight," Stoick looked to where his brother was pointing.

"Finally," He said to himself. "Keep steady!" He said to Spitelout. "Get us in there as quickly and neatly as you can!" He turned to face the dragon and his son. "We're almost there, Hiccup," He said. "Just hold on a little bit longer," Gobber placed a hand on Stoick's shoulder.

"He'll be fine," He said. "He's stubborn, he'll hold on."

"I have to make it right," Stoick said. Mostly to himself. "I'm going to make it right. I have to, this is all my fault," Gobber nodded solemnly and walked to the edge of the boat. Leaning over the edge, looking towards Berk, figuring out how long it would take to arrive.

"How do we explain that to the rest of the village?" Gobber asked, gesturing to Toothless and Hiccup.

"We tell them the truth," Stoick replied. "We tell them I made a mistake, and that Hiccup was right," Gobber chuckled.

"That's going to go well," He said.

"We'll make them understand, Gobber," Stoick said quickly. "I'll make them understand," He continued, determined.

"Just like Hiccup made us understand," Gobber replied scathingly. "You have to realize Stoick," He continued. "The rest of the village isn't going to take the sudden alliance with the dragons well. There's three hundred years of blood between us and them," Stoick sighed, defeated by Gobber's logic.

"I know, Gobber," He said. "But I have to make things right."

"You can't make things right by blaming yourself for this," Gobber replied. "Astrid was right. Blaming yourself is only going to make things worse for Hiccup," He took a breath. "The poor boy's already going to have enough on his plate."

"What am I going to do?" Stoick asked, to no one in particular. Gobber answered.

"You'll take it slow," He said. "Don't push it. You have almost fifteen years of ignoring your son save to chastise him," Stoick winced slightly. "It's not going to be an overnight thing," Gobber continued. "It's going to take time, just like the dragons. You cannot rush this,"

Stoick sighed and nodded. "Very well," He said, quietly. But he was barely listening. He had to make it-was going to make it-right, no matter what. As Gobber said, he had fifteen years of terrible parenting to make up for. It would take a lifetime to repair the damage done and Stoick intended to use all the time he had. When they had convinced the rest of the village of the trueness of the situation, the work would begin. He would make things right.

* * *

"Stoick." Stoick looked up as Gobber elbowed his arm.

"What?" When Gobber gestured in the direction of his home he looked over. He stared at the door for a few moments before it opened and Hiccup walked out. Stoick grinned and ran to his son. Taking in his limp from his leg to his slightly longer hair. He had fifteen years of ignoring his son to make up for, he was making sure he payed attention.

"I knew it. I'm dead," Stoick grinned wider at Hiccup's statement.

"No, but you gave it your best shot," He said as he reached him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He was going to make up for lost time, he promised Hiccup silently. They walked a few steps and Stoick gestured at the scene in front of them.

"So, what do you think?"


End file.
